I’ve been somewhat delinquent about posting lately. In part, the news out of Venezuela has gotten really boring. Also in part, I finally got satellite TV in my house, and CNN and the BBC are much more compelling right now. Mostly, though, there’s just this forlorn feeling hanging in the air…this despondency, this anger both at the government and the opposition leadership at the same time. The whole country is up a creek without a paddle at the moment, and it’s just too sad to think about, much less write.

Plus, with the world-historical transcendence of events in Iraq, it’s just hard to feel that the latest he-said-she-said on Globovisión is even close to being worth writing about. The entire architecture of post-war international security is going up in smoke and down here we’re consumed in these ridiculous fights about when you’re allowed to start gathering signatures for a referendum. It’s just pathetic.

The upshot is, I think they should just give journalists a few months off here, let us go hang at the beach until the halfway point in Chávez’s mandate rolls around and serious politics resumes. When the time comes, on August 19th, then we’ll know what’s what. Then we’ll know if he’s serious about letting us vote, or if the delaying games will go on indefinitely. We’ll either toss him out through the ballot box or know, finally, for certain, that we’re dealing with an out-and-out dictator, and adapt our tactics accordingly.

For now, all we can do is watch, wait, and be sad about the dismantling of our institutions, our economy, and our freedoms. We might have to fight a minor tactical battle now and then, we might even win a couple, but the fundamentals won’t change until August. So, unless something truly worth writing about happens between now and then, I suppose the blogging will be slow between now and then.

For now, there’s not much to do but hope the civilians of Iraq and the safety of the world system escape what’s coming more or less intact.